In this week’s video I talk about the “fear of public speaking”, the changes that can occur from leaning into this fear, and the opportunities for growth that come as a result.
“I’m not comfortable asking for what I want.”
“I’m get flustered when things get stressful.”
“I’m not good at being patient with certain employees.”
“I’m fearful of public speaking.”
All of these sentiments are real; they’re based off of personal experiences; however, the truth is that none of these sentiments ultimately define who a person is.
When you claim that you behave a certain way in response to an external circumstance, you’re essentially placing limitations on yourself, and not leaving room for improvement.
One of my teachers always encouraged us to “put things in the past” and in doing so, leave room for positive change to occur.
For instance, if I take the first example from above which states: “I’m not comfortable asking for what I want” and change it to…“In the past, I haven’t been comfortable asking for what I want”, it drastically changes my relationship to the behavior; it places it in the past and creates an opportunity for change.
Does any of this stuff sound familiar to you?
Consider some of the ways you place limitations on yourself…..You may not be aware of them right off the bat, but if you slow down and focus on your word choice, you may find that you tend to associate negative behaviors, patterns, and habits with the present moment.
A great exercise that you can start implementing right away is to write down the specific negative sentiments that you claim as being part of “who you are”, and then reframe the statement by putting it in the past.
For example, If you were to say, “I’m not good at slowing down”, you could stop yourself in the moment and reframe that statement to say, “In the past, I wasn’t good at slowing down.”
I’d love to hear some examples of the negative statements you observe over the next week!
Thanks for watching this week’s video.
